BOSTON (WHDH) - Opening statements were delivered Wednesday in the murder trial of a Salisbury woman accused of poisoning her boyfriend with chemicals used in anti-freeze.
Judy Church, 67, is accused of lacing Leroy Fowler’s, 55, drinks with the chemicals used in anti-freeze.
“They tested the liquid, the little left over and it had anti-freeze in it. It has ethanol glycol. So that’s gonna be the murder weapon,” said Prosecutor Andrew Camelio.
Fowler’s family said he was worried about Church poisoning his drinks before he died.
Camelio gave the jury a motive of why he says Church killed Fowler on his birthday in 2022.
“Mr. Fowler had another girlfriend. Everyone knew he had two girlfriends, everyone accepted it, but neither of those two women were happy,” he said. “Ms. Church was the only person who had access to him. The ethylene glycol would take effect on the body about an hour to 12 hours after consumption. She’s the only one who said, ‘I’m poisoning him through his milkshakes, through his sweet drinks.'”
Camelio told jurors that Church filled journals about how much she hated the love triangle, but her defense attorney calls it all a “conspiracy theory.” The defense said the couple was happy and about to move to Florida in the coming days.
“They’re striking this motive from all kinds of jokes taken out of context that are off-color, old entries from journals, stray text messages trying to cobble them together, but they don’t fit,” said Liam Scully, Church’s Defense Attorney.
The 911 call Church made on November 11, 2022 was played in court, as well as police body camera video of first responders arriving to the couple’s Salisbury home.
Scully said Fowler did drugs and was in declining health. He reminded jurors that they don’t have to figure out how Fowler died, just determine if Church was responsible for his death.
“They’re admittedly hurt, angry, upset, confused, looking for answers, but they get the wrong answers by pointing the fingers at her,” Scully said. “They’re going to Florida to live. So how could her motive be to kill him then?”
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